Previously there was Australia, then South Korea, and the United States’ allies in the Asia-Pacific region continued to advance the nuclear submarine program, then Japan?
Nikkei Asia reported on October 31 that US President Trump has just approved South Korea's decision to acquire nuclear submarines, which may reshape the security environment in East Asia. Japan is also discussing upgrading its submarine fleet. The report believes that if South Korea purchases nuclear submarines, Japan may be "forced to do the same", and the newly elected Takashi-Miao government has been open to this.
It is reported that the Liberal Democratic Party led by Japanese Prime Minister Saami Takashi and its ruling coalition partner, the Japan Restoration Council, said in an agreement that they would promote the acquisition of "next generation propulsion system" submarines. On October 22, Japan's new Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi announced at his inauguration press conference: "All options will be taken into account and no possibility will be ruled out."
However, Nikkei Asia also warned that any move by Japan to purchase nuclear-powered submarines will be opposed by China, Russia and North Korea.
Nuclear-powered submarines are mainly used for military purposes. They have the characteristics of strong underwater concealment and long endurance. They can perform a variety of combat missions, but their construction costs are much higher than those of diesel-electric submarines.
Nikkei Asia claims that Japan and South Korea currently only own diesel-electric submarines and have always relied on the nuclear submarine power of the United States to contain China and Russia. Although the operational details of U.S. submarines are confidential, and nuclear-powered propulsion technology is also a strictly confidential secret of the United States. This technology has only been shared with Britain and Australia before, it is widely believed that U.S. submarines are deployed throughout the Pacific region.
Compared to South Korea, Japan has a much larger range of waters in need of defense.The Japanese Ministry of Defense has been pushing forward a plan to equip long-range missiles for conventional submarines.
In the Pacific region, Australia is planning to purchase its first nuclear-powered submarines through the U.S. and UK’s “AUKUS” trilateral security partnership.
In November 2021, the United States, Britain and Australia formally signed the "Naval Nuclear Power Information Exchange Agreement", laying the foundation for sharing confidential information on nuclear submarines. Australia will become the seventh country to possess nuclear-powered submarines.
According to the plan, the U.S. will sell three U.S. Virginia class nuclear submarines to Australia from the early 1930s and two more in the future, while the U.S. and Australia will work together to develop a new type of nuclear submarine and equip the U.S. and Australia in the late 1930s and early 1940s respectively.
Nikkei Asia claims that these developments have had an impact on Japan's defense strategy, because they may lead the United States to hand over Pacific defense more to its allies, while focusing on defending its homeland.
On October 29th, local time, US President Trump met with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, and the two sides held talks at the National Gyeongju Museum in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do. During the talks, Lee Jae-myung requested the United States to provide South Korea with nuclear fuel needed for nuclear-powered submarines to improve the combat capabilities of South Korean submarines. He also claimed that diesel-electric submarines have limited underwater endurance, so there are limitations in tracking Chinese or North Korean submarines.
Trump did not respond directly to Lee’s request, but he said the United States wanted to cooperate with South Korea in shipbuilding and joint defense. Trump said: “Our defense is very important from the perspective of helping other countries.
This is the first time the South Korean government has officially announced its intention to introduce a nuclear-powered submarine.
According to Politico, on October 30 local time, U.S. President Trump said that the United States would share nuclear-powered propulsion technology with South Korea to help the South Korean Navy build at least one nuclear-powered submarine.
On the same day, Trump posted on the "Real Social" platform that South Korea had agreed to pay $350 billion to the United States in exchange for the United States reducing tariffs imposed on South Korea. In addition, South Korea has also agreed to purchase a large amount of American oil and natural gas, and the investment of wealthy Korean enterprises and businessmen in the United States will exceed $600 billion.
"The U.S. -South Korea military alliance is stronger than ever, and based on that, I have approved South Korea to build nuclear-powered submarines instead of the old, far less flexible diesel-powered submarines they currently have," Trump added: "South Korea will be building its nuclear-powered submarines, right on the U.S. soil! my country's shipbuilding industry is about to usher in a strong recovery. Please look forward!"
In this regard, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said that China has noticed the relevant situation, and China hopes that South Korea and the United States will earnestly fulfill their nuclear non-proliferation obligations and do things to promote regional peace and stability, not the other way around. "We want to emphasize that China adheres to the path of peaceful development, pursues a defensive national defense policy and a good-neighborly and friendly foreign policy, and has always been the mainstay of maintaining regional peace and tranquility."